Christmas Chaos
by Angel-eyes56
Summary: In an attempt to impress a visiting Claudia, Fargo decides to throw an over-the-top Eureka-style Christmas party but given that this is Eureka, will things go as planned? Fargo/Claudia and Nathan/Jack


**Title**:Christmas Chaos

**Pairings/Characters: **Fargo/Claudia, Nathan/Jack, Zane/Jo, Henry/Grace, mention of Helena/Myka

**Rating:** PG

**Spoilers:** through Eureka season 4 and 5 and Warehouse 13 season 3

**Disclaimer:** Eureka and Warehouse 13 belong to their respective creators

**A/N:** Thanks to my beta RoyalLadyEmma for the quick work, written for the crossover exchange on Livejournal and for teenagewitch

* * *

"So this is Eureka. Huh, I thought things would be more... I dunno, more science fiction-y, you know?" Pete Lattimer declared as he removed his sunglass. Pivoting slowly, he took in the small town before him, seeing the cafe and the other small shops arranged around the well-groomed central square, and he couldn't stop the pout that graced his handsome face. "I guess Myka and H.G. aren't missing much after all." He tacked on a brief smile to soften his words.

Earlier in the week, when Artie had informed them that Douglas Fargo had come up with a new _'goo'_ that would neutralize dangerous artifacts, Claudia had jumped at the chance to go to Eureka to pick it up. Curious as always, Jinks asked if he could come and Pete, well Pete just wanted to tag along and have a front row seat to what was sure to be an interesting show. He knew that Fargo would try and court Claudia in his own endearing, awkward, and guaranteed-to-fail fashion.

Myka and H.G. talked briefly about coming along, and Pete was sure that H.G. would have fit right in with a town full of the brightest minds in the world but this was Myka and H.G.'s first Christmas together as a couple. Myka had decided that it was more important for her to take her girlfriend home to meet her family than to see what was going on the Pacific Northwest.

A bright smile graced Claudia's face and she flung out her arms proudly. "Nope, this is Eureka all right. Isn't it just awesome?" the redhead asked eagerly.

Steve Jinks exchanged a bemused look with Pete; seeing the look in the other man's eyes, Jinks decided he'd better answer before Pete said something sarcastic and ended up hurting Claudia's feelings. "It does have a certain charm to it." What that charm _was _Steve really had no idea, but the glowing smile on Claudia's face had Steve keeping his thoughts to himself.

Grinning brightly, Claudia linked her arms with Pete and Steve's. "Come on, let me give you the tour while we wait for Douglas and Carter to arrive."

"Ahh, yes, Fargo... and how is your _friend_ doing?" Pete thought it was downright adorable, funny even, how Fargo had tripped all over himself trying to impress Claudia. He'd reminded Pete of an anxious puppy, so eager to please and to be noticed. _'At least he didn't pee on the floor,'_ Pete laughed to himself. _'Well, not yet anyway!'_

"Doug is doing just fine, thank you for asking. In fact, he's super excited that Artie has agreed we could spend Christmas in Eureka!" Claudia informed them and her smile grew even bigger.

Once again Pete and Jinks shared a look. "Yeah, I bet old Doug is thrilled we're here for Christmas." Pete drawled out his words; he and Jinks both knew that Fargo was looking forward to seeing only one of them.

* * *

Jack was happy beyond measure that they were living in an alternate world, one where Nathan Stark was not only back with him but where he and Jack had finally acted on their mutual feelings for one another, or as Jo would say, they'd finally gotten their butts in gear and done something about the sexual tension that had sizzled between them from the moment they'd exchanged their first insult. Everything had changed the moment Nathan had grabbed Jack and had thoroughly kissed him in the middle of the pouring rain.

It was the single most romantic thing that had ever happened in Jack's life.

As he watched Fargo in the middle of one of his famous freak-outs Jack was pleased to see that despite everything, some things never changed.

Trying to appear as casual as possible, Sheriff Jack Carter approached his lover and felt his heart skip a beat as Nathan gave him that sexy smirk of his. "So what's Fargo's problem now?" Jack asked as he came to stand next to his partner, enjoying the feeling of the other man's warmth.

Nathan's green eyes sparkled with amusement the way they always did when dealing with Fargo. "Something about everything needing to be perfect for when the Warehouse agents arrive and from what I can tell, so far nothing is meeting his standards. He keeps mumbling about having to impress her." Nathan gave Jack a very pointed and knowing look; they were used to seeing this type of behaviour from Fargo whenever he was dealing face-to-face with a girl he had a crush on.

Jack grinned and his blue eyes lit up with glee as he filled Nathan in on what he didn't know, "See now that all makes sense! Fargo has a bit of a _crush_ on Claudia and it's a hoot watching him go over the top in his attempts to woo her." Jack knew that it was more than a little bit of a crush; Fargo was completely and totally smitten with Claudia and from what Jack had seen, Claudia was equally as smitten with Fargo.

"So..." Nathan hiked an eyebrow as he gestured to something over in the corner, "... that would explain the Gothic Elves."

Jack followed Nathan's gaze; he blinked and his jaw drop in disbelief as he spotted several of Global Dynamics' employees dressed as gothic versions of Santa's elves. Leaning in close, Jack whispered into his partner's ear, "Thank goodness Zoë isn't here; she'd fit right in!"

A small, highly amused snort escaped Nathan's lips. He knew how right Jack was about that; despite how much she'd grown, Zoë Carter would always have a strong rebellious streak within her. "You're right, it _is_ a good thing Zoë won't be here until after the Warehouse agents leave." Nathan didn't have to say it out loud; he was unexpectedly nervous about spending his first Christmas with Jack and Zoë. He wanted everything to be _perfect;_ he knew how much Zoë meant to Jack and Nathan wanted her to be comfortable with him dating her dad.

Jack gently nudged Nathan and smiled at him. "Zoë's thrilled that we, in her words, got our heads out of our behinds and finally acted on the feelings everyone else knew were there." He didn't mention that his daughter had gone on to ask how two men one who was so smart could have been so blind as to not that realise all their sniping and snarking at one another was actually their way of flirting their way into a relationship.

Unable to stop himself and not really caring who was watching, Jack leaned over and brushed a tender kiss across Nathan's lips. Before he had a chance to move away Nathan's hand came up to rest possessively against his neck, a move which kept Jack's lips firmly pressed against his. Nathan was delighted to feel Jack relax against him and when Jack moaned softly against his lips, Nathan's heart skipped a beat.

"Oh, for the love of Buffy! I know you two have a lot of catching up to do but would the two of you _please_ stop locking lips this disaster-waiting-to-happen is over?!" Fargo's strident voice washed over the two men like a bucket of ice water.

A smug smirk graced Nathan's face as he watched Jack promptly blush as soon as he realised they were the center of attention. He rather enjoyed reminding everyone that Jack was his and his alone.

"Fargo, is this really necessary? Remember you tried this once before and I seem to remember that Claudia made it pretty clear that you don't need to go all out in your attempts to impress her." Without putting it too bluntly, Jack calmly reminded Fargo of his last disastrous attempt to impress Claudia. Somehow, he'd managed to set his office furniture on fire, which in turn triggered the automatic sprinkler system, and the resulting water damage had cost G.D. thousands of dollars to repair.

"I don't think you understand, Sheriff! This time Claudia's not coming alone; she's bringing Pete and Steve with her, the men she can't stop raving about. For all intents and purposes, they're her family and I need to make a good impression on them." Fargo was beginning to panic and his voice had already risen one full octave. "What if they don't like me?"Yes, he had already met Pete but this time it was different; this time he wanted to make his feelings known to Claudia.

Both Jack and Nathan knew from numerous unpleasant, embarrassing and dangerous experiences that the only way to handle Fargo when he got like this was to go along with his madness just long enough for them to make their escape.

* * *

"Jo!" Claudia cried happily as she spotted the head of G.D.'s security.

"Hello, Claudia," Jo greeted the young woman. She was always pleased to see her when she came to Eureka; she hated to admit it, but having Claudia in town gave her a bit of a break from Fargo's crush on her. Jo turned her attention to the two men standing behind Claudia. Holding out her hand, Jo addressed Claudia's companions. "You must be Pete Lattimer and Steve Jinks. I'm Jo Lupo Chief of Security for Global Dynamics; it's very nice to meet you both."

Hidden behind his sunglasses, Pete took the opportunity to run his gaze up and down the gorgeous woman's form. Liking what he saw, he decided to turn on the charm and just as he was putting on his best smile Claudia elbowed him in the side. "Don't even think about it, Pete; Jo has a boyfriend," the redhead hissed in Pete's ear. The last thing she wanted was for Pete to embarrass himself by hitting on the very dangerous woman.

"Well, of course she does!" Pete muttered under his breath; _'it's just my luck that the first hot girl we come across is taken.'_ As he stared at the woman, Pete couldn't get over the sudden sense of déjà vu he felt _'She looks very familiar.'_ "Have we met before? You look really familiar to me." Pete saw the exasperated yet deadly look in Jo's eyes and quickly whipped off his sunglasses so she could see the truth in his eyes adding, "This is not a pick-up line, I'm being totally honest here. You really do look a lot like someone I met during a mission to collect an artifact."

Jo raised an eyebrow; while it did sound like a bad pick-up she see the honesty in his eyes. "I don't think so; I think I might remember meeting you."

Steve and Claudia both groaned as Pete flashed Jo his patented cocky grin, "I _am_ pretty unforgettable." They would swear he actually puffed out his chest with pride.

"Oh, yes, Pete, you're a real stud," Jinks agreed with a roll of his eyes. "Can we go now?" Jinks was getting really curious to meet the people that Claudia had talked incessantly about since the moment they'd left the Warehouse. More importantly, he and Pete needed to give Fargo the 'shovel talk' to make sure he was serious about Claudia and to remind him just what they would do to him if he hurt Claudia in any way.

Jo fought the urge to smirk as she recognized the looks in both Steve and Pete's eyes. _'Fargo, I wish you all the luck in the world; you're going to need it.'_ Knowing how freaked out Fargo was about Claudia, Jo couldn't wait to see how he handled two extremely over-protective brothers. "Everybody is waiting for you to arrive; Fargo refused to start the Christmas party without you," Jo informed Claudia. "I believe you are to be his guest of honour."

A huge beaming smile broke out on both Claudia and Pete's faces. "There's a real Christmas party? With food?" Pete asked eagerly, thinking with his stomach as usual.

Claudia had a different reaction. "Douglas is throwing a Christmas party?"

Jo smiled at the other female. "Correction, Douglas is throwing _you_ a Christmas party."

They didn't think it was possible but the smile on Claudia's face grew even wider and her eyes shone much brighter. "Awesome! Let's check this baby out!"

* * *

"I think Jo should Tase Fargo before I kill him," Zane managed to get out through gritted teeth as he moved the Christmas tree for the tenth time.

From his spot on the other side of the giant tree Jack could only grunt his agreement. "Sounds like a plan to me." He hastily jumped back, narrowly avoiding losing a toe as they set the tree down once again.

Henry exchanged knowing looks with his wife, Grace. "I think you'd better intervene before Jack forgets he's a nice guy." Grace whispered to her husband. Fargo's nearly psychotic need to have every tiny detail be absolutely perfect was driving the rest of them close to committing murder.

Henry looked around at their friends and saw the murderous glares Fargo was getting from the others. "I'm surprised that Fargo hasn't combusted just from the looks Nathan is giving him."

Grace dared to glance at Nathan and she shivered at the dark glare on his face. "It seems someone doesn't like how all this manual labour is making Jack bend over; doesn't want him showing off that nice behind to the wrong people." _'I may be a married woman but I'm not dead; I like how those blue jeans hugged Jack's arse just perfectly.'_

Glancing around, Henry noticed the coy and admiring glances being cast at Jack and not for the first time, Henry wondered how his friend could be so blind as to not see the looks he received on a daily basis._ 'Of course those looks have certainly diminished since Nathan returned.'_ As soon as they'd acted on their feelings for one another, Nathan had made it very clear that Jack was his and only his from that moment on. Henry hadn't been at all surprised to see his friend's possessiveness emerging; when it came to Jack Carter the man brought out a rarely seen side of Nathan.

"_Fargo,_ I do believe that the tree is _fine_ just where it is!" Nathan growled out warningly; he was tired of watching several eyes undressing _his_ Jack.

Even though he was the boss now, Fargo swallowing hard and fought the urge to shake in his boots. Nathan Stark was still a force to reckon with and right now Fargo knew he was the focus of the man's wrath. The look in Stark's eyes made it clear if he didn't come up with a reasonable explanation as to why he was allowing everyone to get a glimpse of what Nathan saw as his, then he'd never have to worry about impressing Claudia. Doctor Stark would make sure he got reassigned to the Arctic! Permanently!

Luckily Fargo was saved at the last second.

"Dude, this is awesome!"

Fargo's heart leapt in his chest and his hands suddenly began to sweat profusely as he gathered his courage and turned around to see the bright smile on Claudia's face. "I'm glad you like it, Claudia." He sketched a slight bow in her direction, immensely grateful that his voice hadn't cracked from nerves.

Claudia, Pete and Jinks took in the room appreciatively; it was done up in the elegant colour combination of purple and silver. Purple tablecloths with silver trimming decorated each table, hollies and small wreaths served as the center piece on each table. Holiday lights hung around the room twinkling in sync, long tables full of different types of food and desserts were off in the corner, and a huge ten foot tree decked out in silver and purple was the crowning jewel.

"Check it out, Doug's got Gothic Elves!" Claudia was practically bouncing on her feet as she spotted the small group of people dressed, in her opinion, in much cooler and nicely updated versions of the traditional take on the Elves outfits. The girls were wearing high-heeled black leather ankle boots, a purple and black checkered skirt and a purple and black corset-style shirt. The men were dressed in tight black leather pants with silk red shirts that clung to their upper bodies. They all wore red Santa hats trimmed with white fur, and their ears were adorned with fake pointy tips, much like Mr. Spock's.

"I'm sorry, did you say Gothic Elves?" Steve questioned; he did not like the speculative look in Claudia's eyes.

Claudia couldn't keep the smile off of her lips at the panic appearing on both Pete and Steve's faces. "You heard me right, Jinks; it's about time Santa and his little helpers had a makeover." A plotting look appearing in her eyes as she began to wonder how she could i convince /i Pete and Jinks to wear those outfits.

Pete and Jinks both exchanged panicked look; they knew there was no stopping Claudia when she got like this. They were just thankful that H.G. and Myka weren't there to see Claudia's reaction. Pete knew he needed to diffuse the situation before it got out of hand. "Why don't you go over there and thank Doug for throwing you this awesome party while Jinks and I check out the food." Pete didn't wait for an answer; he just grabbed Jinks by the arm and quickly propelled the man over to the tables full of food.

Claudia grinned as she watched her two friends run off towards the food. Still grinning, Claudia slowly made her way over to a very nervous-looking Fargo. "Awesome party, Doug. No one has ever thrown me a Gothic-themed party before. This is pretty wicked!" Something caught her eye and her gaze flickered upward to something hanging above their heads.

Following her gaze, Fargo gulped and licked his suddenly dry lips as he stared at the mistletoe right over his and Claudia's heads.

Rolling her eyes with fond exasperation, Claudia reached out and grabbed Fargo by his tie. "Shut up and kiss me already, Doug," she ordered pulling Fargo into a heart-stopping kiss.

As their mouths met, Fargo felt like he was in a dream-come-true; no other female, not even Holly, who he'd had a real shot with, ever stirred up such feelings in him. This time he wouldn't let Claudia get away without making absolutely sure she knew his true feelings for her. Reluctantly breaking the kiss, Fargo stared deeply into Claudia's eyes. "I'm really glad you like it, Claudia, I would do anything for you. I... I really like you, Claudia, as much more than a friend."

"I really like you too, Doug, as more than a friend." Claudia knew that no one else had ever fit so perfectly in her life and this time there was nothing to keep them apart. It was quite exciting to know that they finally had a chance to make this thing between them work.

* * *

"That was a very nice thing you did," Jack whispered softly in Nathan's ear. He twined their fingers together and squeezed, while his knowing smile promised more to come.

"I have no idea what you're talking about?" Nathan scoffed, he didn't do nice unless it was for Jack or his children.

Jack wasn't fooled at all. "I saw you placing mistletoe all over the place; were you playing matchmaker or hoping to catch me underneath one?"

Nathan rolled his eyes. He knew he had to bite this in the butt before his lover got any more silly ideas in his head and fortunately, he knew the perfect way to do so. Whatever Jack was going to say next was silenced as Nathan's lips claimed his in a searing kiss of their own.

* * *

As Pete piled his plate high with food he and Jinks exchanged smiles as they watched Claudia and Fargo dance together. Claudia was still getting in the occasional kiss every now and then. "Well, it looks like Santa Claus brought Claudia a very special Christmas gift this year." In all the time Pete had known Claudia, he'd never seen anyone more perfect for her than geeky Douglas Fargo who looked at her like she was a goddess.

When he saw the pure joy shining in Claudia's eyes, Jinks smiled brightly at the woman he saw as a sister. "Yeah, I'm so glad she finally got chance to be happy. But we're still going to give Fargo the 'shovel talk', right?" Jinks was really looking forward to that; he'd been practicing in front of his mirror and he was sure he had his menacing look down just right.

Pete grinned. "Oh, trust me, we're going to give Fargo a 'shovel talk' he will _never_ forget."

Across the room Fargo shivered slightly. Daring to glance over at the buffet table, he swallowed hard as he saw Claudia's overly protective friends looking directly at him. "Um, your friends will wait until after Christmas to kill me, right?" he asked a little unsure of his fate.

"You mean Jinks and Pete? They wouldn't hurt a fly. Now if H.G. was here then it would be a different story, but don't you worry your pretty little head, I'll protect you," Claudia reassured him with a gentle kiss right on the tip of his nose.

With Claudia in his arms and smiling just for him, Fargo felt like he could take on anything Pete and Jinks threw at him. More importantly, his greatest wish had come true at last; the girl of his dreams was finally his forever.

The End


End file.
